Reading Phillies 13, New Britain Rock Cats 8: My son and I traveled to nearby Reading, Pennsylvania this evening to see the Reading Phillies — the AA Eastern League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies — host the New Britain (Conn.) Rock Cats — the AA Eastern League Affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

I originally chose this game because the R-Phils were giving away a Jimmy Rollins MVP Collector’s Edition Retro Style Bobble Head.

The game began on a less than pleasant note for the home team as the Rock Cats jumped out to an 8-1 lead with nobody out in the top of the second inning and had a runner on third. The R-Phils placed the call to the bullpen, which miraculously held the Rock Cats scoreless for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the R-Phils continued to chip away at the lead, narrowing the gap to 8-5 by the end of the third inning and trailing by just one run at the end of the fourth. At the end of the sixth inning, the game was tied. From there, the R-Phils scored another unanswered five runs to win the game 13-8.

According to this wrap of the game, tonight was the biggest comeback win for the Reading Phillies in ten years. Relievers Travis Minix and Josh Outman both turned in impressive performances, allowing starting pitcher Kip Bouknight to avoid the loss despite having given up eight earned runs in one-plus innings.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies enter July with only a half-game lead in the National League East. We will next see them play on Sunday against the New York Mets.

“Ga. court upholds partial banishment for offenders”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Faced with the question of whether banishment for criminals in Georgia should be banned, the state’s top court answered Monday with its own caveat: It depends on how far the ban extends.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Georgia at this link.

“Justice Antonin Scalia: Al Gore to blame for 2000 US election mess.” This article appeared last Friday in The Telegraph (UK).

By a vote of 7-5, the en banc Eleventh Circuit holds that National Geographic did not infringe the copyrights of a freelance photographer when the publication reproduced within a thirty-disc CD-ROM the print magazine issues that included his photographs: You can access today’s ruling of the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.

law.com has recently covered the case in articles headlined “Citing Supreme Court Precedent, 11th Circuit Reverses Major Copyright Ruling; ‘Greenberg’ and ‘Tasini’ cases pit publishers against freelance photographers and writers“; “National Geographic Copyright Case Reopens; Full 11th Circuit to consider freelance photographer’s back-and-forth dispute with magazine“: and “Major Publishers Back National Geographic in Copyright Fight.”

Ninth Circuit reinstates insider trading claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a former Fidelity National Financial director alleged to have traded on confidential information about the impending acquisition of LendingTree, Inc.: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“CCR Files Four New Abu Ghraib Torture Lawsuits Targeting Military Contractors in U.S. Courts”: The Center for Constitutional Rights has issued this news release today, linking to the complaints filed today in federal court.

And The Associated Press reports that “Abu Ghraib inmates sue contractors, claim torture.”

Ostriches and their head: Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner posted this comment to the “Language Log” blog overnight. For those concerned that the comment may be from a Judge Posner imposter — fear not, as Judge Posner himself sent me an email overnight proudly claiming responsibility for the comment.

Earlier “How Appealing” posts on this arguably now tedious subject can be accessed here, here, and here.

“U.S. Court Upholds Dismissal of Canadian’s Suit Over Rendition”: Bloomberg News provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by a Canadian man who sued the U.S. after he was stopped in a New York airport and forcibly removed to Syria where he was tortured over alleged ties to al-Qaeda.”

My earlier coverage of today’s Second Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Davis: Leveling rich candidates’ speech unjustified.” Tony Mauro has this news analysis online at the First Amendment Center.

And The New York Sun today contains this editorial about the ruling.

“Individual Rights Make Headway; High-Court Rulings Reject Arguments Tried by Government”: Saturday in The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin and Gary Fields had an article that begins, “Whether they work in the White House, the Louisiana State Capitol or the District of Columbia’s municipal building, elected officials received a refresher course in the limits of their power from the Supreme Court. In the term that finished this week, the justices repeatedly championed individual rights over government arguments that public safety takes precedence, in such disparate areas as gun rights, detention and cruel-and-unusual punishment.”

Those lacking a WSJ.com subscription may still access the full text of the article via this link at Google News.

D.C. Circuit makes public a redacted version of its recent ruling that overturned the Pentagon’s classification of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant: The redacted ruling, made public today, can be accessed here.

My earlier coverage of the ruling appears at this link.

And The Associated Press reports that “Judges cite nonsense poem in Guantanamo case.”

Update: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Circuit Court: No detention based on ‘bare assertions.’”

“Plaintiff, a dual citizen of Syria and Canada, * * * alleges that he was mistreated by U.S. officials in the United States and removed to Syria with the knowledge or intention that Syrian authorities would interrogate him under torture”: So begins the syllabus to today’s lengthy ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Maher Arar v. John Ashcroft, et al.

By a vote of 2-1, today’s ruling affirms a federal district court decision that dismissed the lawsuit. In dissent, Circuit Judge Robert D. Sack explains that he would allow Arar’s Bivens-like claims for monetary damages to survive defendants’ motions to dismiss.

In early news coverage, Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun reports that “Court Rules Against Canadian’s Torture Suit.”

“Can California’s same-sex marriages be saved? A constitutional ban would also likely doom the unions already on the books.” Law Professor Kenji Yoshino has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.

“High court’s tilt hinges on election’s outcome”: Yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko had an article that begins, “The final flurry of rulings in the Supreme Court’s just-completed term made it clear that the future of the court, and some of its most contentious rulings, rests with voters who will elect a new president in November.”

“Gun Shops Await New D.C. Rules; Stores Turn Away Buyers After Ruling”: The Washington Post contains this article today. The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Guns: The Next Step; Congress should let the D.C. Council decide what to do.” And columnist Robert D. Novak has an op-ed entitled “Obama’s Dodge on Handguns.”

Today’s edition of The Washington Times contains an article headlined “Gun ruling’s impact on election unclear; Little ‘political hay,’ Norton says.”

Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun reports that “Supreme Court Decision May Permit Felons To Own Guns.” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Why Not Here?” And David Kopel has an op-ed entitled “Heller’s Kitchen.”

And in The Wall Street Journal, Michael R. Bloomberg and Thomas M. Menino have an op-ed entitled “Some Gun Rules We Can All Agree On.”

“Ethics Expert Stephen Gillers: Judge Kozinski Should Not Be Disciplined.” This post appears today at “Patterico’s Pontifications.”

“Beyond Guantanamo: Gaps in the candidates’ stances on handling terror suspects.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

“A Death Penalty Puzzle: The Murky Evidence for and Against Deterrence.” Cass R. Sunstein and Justin Wolfers have this op-ed today in The Washington Post.

“The Chief Justice, Dylan and the Disappearing Double Negative”: Yesterday in the Week in Review section of The New York Times, Adam Liptak had an article that begins, “The last chief justice liked light opera. The new one cites Bob Dylan. Four pages into his dissent on Monday in an achingly boring dispute between pay phone companies and long distance carriers, John G. Roberts Jr., the chief justice of the United States, put a song lyric where the citation to precedent usually goes.” Liptak’s article proceeds to observe that the quote from Dylan that the Chief Justice used was inaccurate.

A graphic accompanying the article shows the “Most-Cited Rockers in Judicial Opinions.”

“Common Sense on Punitive Damages”: Columnist L. Gordon Crovitz has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

“The Supreme Court’s Blockbuster Second Amendment Ruling: What the Court Resolved and What it Left Open.” Michael C. Dorf has this essay online at FindLaw.

“By a nose: A Rockland County mom draws Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.” Ben McGrath has this Talk of the Town item in the July 7, 2008 issue of The New Yorker.

“Divided Rulings Thrust U.S. High Court Into Presidential Race”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.